Rebels/Brigands popping up like weeds!

[Bayushi Togai]

I'm playing Scythians, and Rebels are really draining my resources. My provices are so vast that it can take multiple turns to ride out and annihilate the little bastids, and I waste a lot of real time wiping out pissant little brigand forces that I can't ignore.

Is there a way to decrease the instance of brigands? I know that cities get unrest at 70% loyalty, but does sitting in the zone between 75% and 100% loyalty for a province increase the number of rebels that appear? ty

[Morindin]

Do you enslave a lot of people, have large slave trades, etc ? Im fairly sure a lot of the brigands are escaped slaves, as your general always refers to them as such.

I get them poppup up like rats too, and I always enslave populations and am fairly large in the slave trade.

I wasnt aware that unrest resulted in Brigands popping up.. if that is true it explains a lot.

[motorhead]

Haven't seen this addressed yet (or i missed it) so I'll give it my $.02 from what i've seen so far.
- generally, i see alot more slave rebellions whenever i enslave a conquered town. Not unusual to see a slave army suddenly pop up right next to my core cities. My guess is, big cities (with govs) import alot more slaves, these slaves are newly enslaved and a portion of them are looking to be free - leading to slave rebellions.
- also seems the better you see a prov (watchtowers, spies, etc) the less chance of rebels. I have a fairly extensive network of watchtowers and, barring slave rebellions, I haven't seen regular brigands popping up in my areas. This is kinda like Civ2-3 was, the better you can see your provs, the fewer "barbarian" uprisings.

[Bayushi Togai]

I haven't enslaved anything, so that can't be my particular problem. And I do have a few fogged out areas on my map, but the brigands seem to grow up even within my fields of vision from my watchtower network.

At least the easy battles against 61 peasants are easy experience for units.

[Damiel]

I get a lot of slaves no matter who or how I play, and I've found that setting up a fairly cheap "supression army" works wonders. Make it about a 500 man unit with as many fast moving units as you can (preferably all cav, so you can move on campaign map faster) and then just set them up in a fort in the middle of a cluster of provinces. When you see a rebel army, dispatch this force out to them. With some TLC these supression troops should be really experienced forces that you end up using for all sorts of "at home" duties, like joining a larger army to fend off an invasion, or conquering former AI nation cities who rebel.

[Praylak]

I do as Damiel already suggested. Actually the purpose of my "interior" field army is to make my neighbouring allies think twice about strolling in and laying siege. You just can't trust anyone in them days. Seems like all it means to be allies is "we are friends until your garrisons are weak". I also use this army to squash brigands, build watchtowers and forts. Basiclly a civil service force. Usually the General that's commanding this army gets a higher command than my conquering armies.

[Servius]

Forts with garrisons decrease/supress rebellions. I put a fort and peasant garrison at every choke point inside my provinces and along the borders, as well as Watchtowers so I can see everything inside my territory. If/when a rebel force pops up, I crush it and plant a fort and peasant garrison at the spot where it sprang up. Presto! No more rebellions.